Country Profiles: Burundi

Official name: Republic of Burundi

Official language: Kirundi and French

Land area: 10,747 sq mi/27,834 sq km

Population: 9,417,000

Capital: Bujumbura

Current leader: Pierre Nkurunziza

Burundi is a small country in south-central Africa. It is bordered by Tanzania to the east and south, Lake Tanganyika and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west and Rwanda to the north. It is one of the world’s poorest countries, with very little natural resources and industries.

 Approximately 85 percent of Burundi’s people are Hutus while about 14 percent are Tutsis. The rest are mostly Arabs, Asians and Europeans. Most of the people live in rural areas and are farmers.

 Agriculture makes up the bulk of Burundi’s economic output. The country produces mostly bananas, beans, cassava, corn and sweet potatoes. Coffee is its most important export. It also exports tea and cotton. Lake Tanganyika is an important source of fish.

 In 1897, Germany occupied the area that currently comprises Burundi and Rwanda and made it part of German East Africa. During World War I, Belgium, which was at war against Germany and already had control of nearby Congo, seized the area from Germany. In 1923, Ruanda-Urundi, as it was called then, became a mandated territory under Belgian administration. In 1962, both Burundi and Rwanda became independent.

 Almost immediately after independence Burundi began experiencing ethnic tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis. A 1972 revolt by the Hutus resulted in more than 100,000 deaths. In October 1993, following a military coup that overthrew President Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, another clash erupted between the two ethnic groups, resulting in more than 300,000 deaths. Tens of thousands fled to neighboring Rwanda to escape the violence.